


daemons run (when a good man goes to war)

by VolxdoSioda



Series: Whumptober 2018 (Complete) [23]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Day 23 - self sacrifice, Gen, Hurt/No Comfort, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 20:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16415150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolxdoSioda/pseuds/VolxdoSioda
Summary: It's a fool's plan, all of it. Prophecy and Gods aside, the wounds still ache. But right now they are a broken King and a forgotten Shield, both seeking closure. Gil won't replace Gladio, and Noctis can't replace Ardyn.But, as Noctis and Gil arrive to find Ignis and Prompto waiting, maybe they can help each other heal, just a little.





	daemons run (when a good man goes to war)

"Go," Gladiolus rumbles. "Go!"

Ignis doesn't think twice, even as Noctis yells, "No, no! Gladiolus,  _no--"_

And then his Shield is hefting up his sword, putting his back to them, and they're fleeing out of the cave, Noctis screaming as he watches the daemons rush for the lone man standing in their way, claws outstretched--

( _"How could you?!" Noctis screams later, clutching the remains of a bloody jacket to his chest, tears streaming down his face. "He was my **brother** **!"** )_

Later, Ignis will go back. There won't be a body. Just smears on the wall, half-gnawed bones, a broken sword, a shattered shield--

_("Yes, and he did his job. Or do you not recall that we are meant to protect you?!" Ignis snarls right back, and perhaps it is cruel of him, to put his lord and brother through more when he's already in such agony. "He was your **Shield,**  Noctis. And he has done his job. He has protected you. We..." He gasps, has to pause to catch his breath. Prompto hasn't stopped staring at the ground since Ignis came back. He's in shock, most likely. He and Gladio were just starting to get used to one another. To grow fond. _

_"We will bury the jacket and the remains, and we will move on," Ignis finishes, his voice quieter. "Say your goodbyes, and leave it at that. We still have a ways to go."_

_He doesn't let the tears fall until he's in the tent, and even then, he doesn't make a sound. Just takes off his glasses, puts a hand to his eyes, and lets himself mourn._

_They've lost a brother today, and it hurts. It hurts so much. Proud, steady Gladiolus, who smiled and laughed and teased--_

_Ignis isn't him. He isn't strong, or steady. He hurts, and the thought of having to be the rock now, to fill in that spot when he's barely holding himself afloat, seems impossible._

_Nevertheless, for Noctis, for the good of the kingdom, he must do it. He will do it.)_

Later, there will be regrets, and silent promises made. Later, Prompto will go silent and Ignis will become colder and Noctis will wear his dead Shield's jacket like it's the only thing keeping him afloat. They will pull up the tent and the chairs and pack into the Regalia in silence, and when evening falls Ignis will pay for three separate rooms and say nothing.

They must keep going. Gladiolus would have wanted them to. So they must.

They must.

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

In the dead of night, Noctis leaves, because staying hurts too much. He wanders, aimless and wild in the dark, listening to the daemons howl in the distance. He hates them, and some part of him wants to run after them and kill them all until the pain stops. 

The rest of him is torn between crying again and being so tired he can't stand it. He misses Gladio. He wants his brother back. He wants his friends back. He wants it all to just... stop.

Maybe that's why he finds the cave. Why, when he goes inside, all he can think of doing is dying. Just lying down and letting Ignis and Prompto do whatever the hell they want. Giving up. 

Instead, he ends up screaming. Crying, again. Because it hurts, and life is unfair, and out of everything that has been taken from him already, Gladio was never supposed to be part of it. Noctis was supposed to die first, and then Gladio - or even die together. 

But not like this. Never like this.

He doesn't hear the footsteps, or feel the shift in the air as someone drifts closer. All he knows is it hurts, and he can't stop crying. It feels like a wound he can't patch, a wound that won't take the potion, it just keeps festering and getting worse instead.

But he does hear the voice.

"Child. Why do you weep?"

Turns out, the cave is inhabited.

His name is Gilgamesh.

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

Gilgamesh is old, and he knows the pain of loss. Maybe Noctis shouldn't be telling complete strangers his life story, but it feels natural around the warrior spirit. Easy. Gilgamesh bows his head in silent apology to his loss when he tells of Gladio - and doesn't mock Noctis for his tears.

"I had a king," he says after a time. "Once, many years ago. I was his Shield - we were proud of our powers. Proud, and believed ourselves infallible. The Gods did not view it so."

"What happened to him?" Noctis croaks, arms wrapped around knees, sitting across from the old warrior, nearly touching. 

Gilgamesh touches the mask on his face. "The Gods decreed him impure, after he drove back the Starscourge using his healing touch. He was forbidden from dying, forbidden from ascending, forbidden from doing anything other than suffering. Last I saw of him, he was walking towards the dawn, and did not care to be followed."

Noctis curls himself up tighter. "I'm sorry," he says.  He isn't sure what for. But it hurts less - speaking to Gilgamesh about all this. "What was his name?"

"Ardyn Lucis Caelum IV - he was to be King of Light, Chosen Bringer of Dawn."

And for the first time since Gladio's death, Noctis feels something like hope awaken inside of him. "...red hair? Wears frumpy clothes? Talks like he's on stage?"

Gilgamesh looks at him. "You have met him."

Noctis buries his head in his legs. "Yeah," he says. "He's the reason we were down there in the first place."

_"Don't you know? There's a King's Tomb down there - you boys better hurry and go get it."_

Gilgamesh's hand clenches into a fist. "I see."

There's silence, after that. Dawn crests on the horizon - he can see it from the tunnel's opening. He should get back before Ignis thinks he's gone and killed himself. But he doesn't want to move. Doesn't want to walk back out into the world without Gladio.

Abruptly, Gilgamesh speaks. "Allow me to join you, to replace what my King has taken from you."

Noctis looks up. Gilgamesh has removed his mask, and bows his head to Noctis now. "I am not an Amicitia, but I have been a Shield. I would be one again, until we next see my King."

"And then?" Noctis asks. 

Gilgamesh raises his head. "And then, I will put him and myself to rest for good."

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

It's a fool's plan, all of it. Prophecy and Gods aside, the wounds still ache. But right now they are a broken King and a forgotten Shield, both seeking closure. Gil won't replace Gladio, and Noctis can't replace Ardyn. 

But, as Noctis and Gil arrive to find Ignis and Prompto waiting, maybe they can help each other heal, just a little.


End file.
